Gloriavale boy injured in fall from balcony

The son of a Gloriavale mother who drowned in November was hospitalised after falling from the second storey of a community house. The boy, believed to be eight or nine years of age, was injured on December 18. Two ambulances attended the incident, and the boy, who was found unconscious, was transported to Grey Base Hospital in Greymouth and then to Christchurch Hospital the next day. He is one of the 11 children of Rejoice Stedfast, who drowned on November 8 after a bank of the Haupiri River collapsed under her. Stedfast was the daughter-in-law of Gloriavale secretary and treasurer Fervent Stedfast, and sister of Gloriavale founder Hopeful Christian’s wife, Ruth. It is understood the boy was on a balcony and tried to climb into an adjacent window when he fell. It is thought he has since been discharged from hospital.